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Saturday, December 24, 2016

Interview: Enemy Of Reality

In October, Greek symphonic metallers Enemy Of Reality released their latest effort called Arakhne. Early December, DutchMetalManiac’s Don Anelli already reviewed Arakhne (here) and now he did an interview with Enemy Of Reality. Read the interview, with answers from guitarist Steelianos, below.

Well, first off, let’s talk about the new album. Are you pleased with its reaction so far?

Hello, and thank you for this interview. Yes, I can say that personally it's exceeded my expectations, both with the fans' and the reviewers' reactions.

Do you have a favorite track off the album? What makes it special for you?

To be honest, I love every song equally, like I would if they were children. And I equally enjoy performing them with the band. But while composing, I was mostly pleased with “Afraid No More”, and the reason is mainly musical. I enjoyed how it turned out, equally aggressive and melodic, with some twists in the music. And I was also extremely happy when I heard the melodic lines Iliana sang over it.

This utilizes the lyrical theme from the ancient Greek myth of Arakhne. Could you offer a little more about the history of the character and the story’s relevance?

Arakhne's myth, essentially shows the psychological contrasts and similarities of gods and men, as they were perceived in ancient Greece. On one side, we have the mortal weaver Arakhne that thought she could compete with the goddess and creator of the loom and the art of weaving itself, overcoming and defying her own human nature, and on the other side we have Athena's side, with her human characteristics despite the fact she's a goddess, that can feel envious of a mortal's skills. The ending is tragically ironic, when Athena “mercifully” forgives Arakhne, and spares her life, while at the same time she punishes her in a most cruel way, turning her into the well known insect (the spider). She punishes her not only for her arrogance, but for her own talent as well.

Why did you choose that particular myth? Is utilizing your heritage important in your lyrics?

At first, on our previous record we didn't think too much about it, although we had a four track sequence based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. But on the process, utilizing themes from our mythology became a stable element of inspiration. Hellas has an enormously rich mythology, there are so many themes that's easy to capture your attention and inspire you.

You were joined by several prominent guests on the album, Jeff Waters, Fabio Lione and Chiara Malvestiti. Were they able to record their parts in the studio with you or did they record their parts elsewhere?

No that would be extremely hard to achieve, although it'd surely be fun. Every artist has a tight schedule, it wouldn't be fair to ask them to join us and record in the studio with us. Everyone recorded their parts in their own country. But that fact did in no way affect the result.

How did you decide on them guesting on your album? Did you approach them or did they offer to do this in the past?

We 're huge fans of them, it's been a great pleasure and honor that they thought our music and concept were working well. I'm sure you can imagine that no artist with such a career and “heavy” name would sign up for a result he wouldn't believe in, or if they thought it would be harmful to their name. Now since we were already acquainted in the past, when we needed someone for a specific role, we immediately thought of them, we asked and they said yes.

How has your work changed since you began?

Well, as everyone, we grow, and evolve as we grow, and the more we create the better it gets. Experience changes you for the best, in every section in life. It 's the same with music, I suppose. We tried some new stuff, we tried composing the music in order to match with the lyrics and overall story of each song, and used several new elements in the process to achieve the emotional effect we wanted for the listener.

This was recorded at Pentagram Studios. Why did you decide it was right to record there?

To be exact, the guitars and bass were recorded at Pentagram Studios, the keyboards and orchestrations were done by Leonidas, and the overall mix took place at Pentagram Studios as well. The drums were recorded at Bree studios. All of the above were done by George Emmanuel. The vocals were recorded at 133 Studios by Mark Adrian and the mastering was done by Nasos Nomikos (VU Productions), who brought a lot clarity to the whole project. We did what we thought was best to achieve the sound we were looking for.

Why did you decide to work with George Emmanuel? Did he bring out anything special to the material while you were recording?

George is already known for his production and mixing skills, especially in heavier and/or darker productions over the past years. He was very cooperative, and brought us homogeneity and a heavier as well as majestic sound that we were looking for on this album.

What plans do you have to promote the album as far as tours or videos?

There are plenty plans, both for live shows-tours and videos, but we can't reveal anything specific at the moment. Please stay tuned for updates on our website and social media!

What’s your all-time favorite track to play live?

Personally, I 'm somewhere between “Needle Bites” and “Afraid No More” as a player, but people respond greatly to many other tracks as well, like “Weakness Lies Within” or “Time Immemorial” and “Showdown” for instance. So that often changes my choice for the favorite-one. The reaction of the people is the most important factor, otherwise we enjoy all songs equally!

Do you want to say something to DutchMetalManiac’s readers?

Thank you very much for reading this, hope you'll get your hands on the album, or ears as a matter of fact. We can't wait to perform to Netherlands, we know the audience is great from what other bands have told us, and we already know many of you from live shows in other countries! So, hope to see y'all soon!